Press release
The Board of Trade is delighted by the adoption of the PMAD: an important tool for the city’s economic development
Montréal, December 8, 2011 – The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal applauds the adoption of an urban development plan for the city, the Plan métropolitain d’aménagement et de développement (PMAD), by 27 of the 28 members of the council of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM). “The CMM has finally adopted a plan that has been anticipated for the past ten years,” said Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. “We congratulate the metropolitan area’s mayors and elected officials. They have demonstrated vision and leadership: the virtually unanimous adoption of the PMAD is quite a feat. The PMAD is a potentially powerful tool for economic development.”
“As part of public consultations, the Board of Trade had asked for a willingness to improve transit-oriented development objectives, adequate industrial space and more concrete efforts to promote urban densification,” Mr. Leblanc said. “We are gratified to see that the CMM shared these concerns. The PMAD will promote denser, more harmonious development that is better linked to the public transit infrastructure. That’s excellent news for businesses, which will benefit from an environment conducive to fluid transport and cost savings.”
“The next challenge will be successfully implementing and monitoring the plan,” Michel Leblanc said. “While some of the measures can take effect quickly, others require the Government of Quebec’s involvement. The Plan has an ambitious vision of the development of public transit, but the issue of financing is far from resolved. We would also like the Agence métropolitaine de transport’s plans to be subject to the PMAD to ensure greater consistency in policies city-wide. The Government of Quebec will also have to ensure that the spirit and objectives of the PMAD apply equally to areas bordering CMM territory.”
Read the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal’s brief on its Website (in French only).
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal has some 7,000 members. Its primary mission is to represent the interests of the business community of Greater Montréal and to provide individuals, merchants, and businesses of all sizes with a variety of specialized services to help them achieve their full potential in terms of innovation, productivity and competitiveness. The Board of Trade is Quebec’s leading private economic development organization.
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Source:
Geneviève Marsan
Interim Advisor, Media Relations
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
Tel.: 514 871-4000, ext. 4015
gmarsan@ccmm.qc.ca